Indiana 31st on well-being of kids | Poll

Kentucky ranked 41st among states; Illinois at No. 24

A national survey places Indiana 31st among states when it comes to the overall well-being of children.

The 2009 Kids Count report, released Tuesday by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, offers up scores of data ranging from infant mortality to children in single-parent homes.

The data rank Kentucky in 41st place, the same as last year, and Illinois at No. 24.

New Hampshire ranked first.

A look at the specific data available for Vanderburgh County showed:

n Children qualifying for free school lunches continued an upward trend, reaching 42.8 percent this year.

In Evansville's public schools for the 2008-09 year, 53 percent of students received either free or reduced-price lunch.

n The percentage of low birth weight babies rose to 9.6 percent in 2006, the most recent year data was available. The rate of Vanderburgh's teen births also increased, reflecting a state and national trend.

n Rates of child abuse and neglect continued a fairly rapid three-year slide in 2008.

Indiana child advocates pointed to data showing that Hoosier infants and children up to age 14 die at much higher rates than in other states.

The report shows an average of 24 of every 100,000 Indiana children ages 1 to 14 died during 2006.

Indiana's rate was about a quarter higher than the national average of 19 deaths per 100,000 children.

Child deaths in Indiana had fallen to 20 per 100,000 in 2003 from 25 per 100,000 in 2000.

Indiana's infant mortality rate of eight deaths per 1,000 live births in 2006 was the 10th highest among states.

The state moved to overall 31st place among states in child well-being after being 34th last year.

"It is good to see Indiana moving up three spots in the national rankings," said Bill Stanczykiewicz, president and chief executive of the Indiana Youth Institute.

"But I think we need to temper that with the reality that in half of the 10 indicators listed, Indiana has gotten worse over the course of seven or eight years, and even in areas where the state has improved, Indiana is doing worse than the nation as a whole."

"It's not a dramatic shift, but it's a loss of momentum compared to what we saw in the late 1990s."

Vanderburgh County's 2006 birth rate for females aged 15 to 17 was 24.7 per 1,000 live births. For Indiana, the rate was 20.8.

The new national report does not reflect the full brunt of economic malaise that took root in late 2008, Beavers told reporters on a conference call Tuesday.

Also clouding the statistics is the fact that household poverty definitions are basically the same as they were in the 1960s, said Patrick McCarthy, senior vice president of the Casey Foundation.

McCarthy urges government officials to not cut back on spending for data collection and analysis because of the recession.

"Ensuring that policymakers and managers have the information they need to make critically important decisions can deliver an immense payoff in reduced waste and improved results for children," McCarthy said.

Other states count

In Kentucky, the infant mortality rate stood at 7.5 per 1,000 births, with 21 children younger than age 14 dying per 100,000.

In Illinois those rates were 7.2 per 1,000 for infant mortality and 21 per 100,000 for child deaths.

The death rate for teens, ages 15 to 19, in Kentucky was 75 per 100,000 and in Illinois 60 per 100,000.

In Kentucky, 24 percent of children lived in households earning $21,027 or less annually. In Illinois, 17 percent of children lived in poverty.